The Return
The flight back to Ponyville that night was a lot quieter than the flight there.
Scootaloo insisted upon bringing every single one of the Shadowbolt Bitty Babies back with her, and they wanted to go directly to Rainbow Dash’s cloud house. Apple Bloom and Applejack wanted to get home right away, as well as Rarity and Sweetie Belle. Fluttershy needed to go right back to her house (apparently, a deer mare in the North Woods was having a hard pregnancy and she wanted to check up on her), as did Pinkie Pie (whom had agreed that they’d have the Alicorn Return Party tomorrow night). Which, of course, left Twilight Sparkle to mediate everything.
So, she chose the simplest of solutions.
Which was why the two chariots were flying towards the Ponyville Library.
It just made more sense that way...to her, but everypony else started to point out the problems with it.
Fortunately, they had stopped complaining about twenty minutes into the flight.
“So, do you think the Princesses are right?” Rarity asked, looking at Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight Sparkle thought about this for a bit, and nodded. “This is one of those sorts of circumstances where we have to take a gamble. If the Order is moving soon...Rarity, they tortured somepony just to summon monsters to kill us. And, we weren’t even the targets, just bait for Sweetie Belle and her friends to reveal themselves. We need to find them, and the only way to find them is to put what they want out to be taken.”
“I really wish we had the Princesses here,” Applejack said. “It’s a big risk, Twilight.”
“If they were here,” Rarity said, sighing, “just their presence alone would be noticeable-by their absence from Canterlot, if anything else. The Order wouldn’t strike because they don’t want to face that kind of strength head-on. I understand the logic of it-I don’t like it, but I understand it.”
“But, we have a Princess here,” Applejack said. “No offense, Twilight, but you’re not exactly the lightest of weights.”
“I’m only one pony, Applejack,” Twilight Sparkle replied. “The Princesses are two, and ponies keep underestimating me.” Here, she grinned manically, “It makes my life a lot easier at times.”
“Ponies underestimating you?” Applejack asked curiously with a flick of one of her ears.
“Yes. I mean, I could have handled every single demon that came out of that summoning. With casualties, but I could. Had they known better about me, there’s quite a few things that are dangerous on the alicorn scale of power that you could summon on a Class Three grid. Fewer of them, yes, but they had control over the Liger Diablocus and that’s not something you do easily. They might have brought over two or three balrogs, and that would have been a challenge,” Twilight Sparkle lectured. “Or, even a single entity like a shoggoth...hm…”
“Twilight, dear,” Applejack said. “Y’starting to worry me.”
“Ooops,” Twilight Sparkle replied with a blush, “sorry. Anyways, we’re ready to handle this. I’m very, very confident about that.”
“So, sprout, what are we going to do first?” Rainbow Dash asked.
The three alicorn foals rode in the same cart with Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Scootaloo’s new collection of toys. Scootaloo was still in a bit of shock-she now had a family. “Do I get to call you mom now, Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo asked.
Rainbow Dash blushed hard and said, “Hey, that’s not too cool...well, actually, it kind of is. Wow…,” her voice trailed off for a second. “That means I really get to tell you to eat your alfalfa and go to bed in plenty of time to see Princess Luna, right?”
“Well, duh, yea,” Scootaloo replied. “And I get to mouth off at you, you get to ground-well, cloud-me and all the other fun parent/child interaction things.”
“I do know the first thing we’ll do,” Rainbow Dash said. “We’ve gotta make your room. I mean, I’ve got all that cloud house up there and you deserve your own bedroom…”
Fluttershy looked nervous about the whole “making a room” issue, and Rainbow Dash looked at her and sighed. “Fluttershy, I promise. Your parents won’t find you up there, not after what Rainbowdad did to your dad the last time they ran into each other.”
Sweetie Belle looked at Fluttershy curiously, “Fluttershy, what happened with you and your parents? You only said you never wanted to see them again.”
“I’m…,” Fluttershy said softly. “It’s hard to explain…”
“Her parents are huge jerks,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “Huge jerks. And, trust me, the only thing they’re good for is fertilizer in a few years.”
“Yes,” Fluttershy agreed, softly.
“So, are we going to let Pinkie Pie organize the party or what?” Apple Bloom asked, realizing this was a good point to change the subject.
In a shipping crate, Pinkie Pie dreamed of parties. And cupcakes.
Nopony had the heart-or the nerve-to wake her up after she had fallen asleep, so they just boxed her up and shipped her home with them.
Twilight Sparkle did insist upon installing air holes in the box, mind you...
The chariots landed two hours after noon, and they got everything offloaded in good order. “So, what now?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Well,” Sweetie Belle said, looking at the ground, “could I go with Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash, help them get her room set up and all that?”
“Of course, dear,” Rarity said. “Just send word if you can’t make it home tonight, please.”
“Ah, can I go too, Applejack?” Apple Bloom asked, flexing her wings a bit.
“Same thing, sugarcube,” Applejack said in reply. “Don’t get into too much trouble.”
“Well,” Scootaloo said, “you can all help me with the packages and such…”
The three of them wandered off to find saddle bags and left the rest to look around, wondering. “Twilight, is it…,” Applejack asked.
“They all have tracking spells and I know where they are at all times,” Twilight Sparkle replied softly. “In fact, Sweetie Belle made a few suggestions on how to improve the tracking spells. And, there’ll be some ponies watching, always. The Special Investigator had his team come into town yesterday.”
“Wow,” Rainbow Dash replied. “You’re ready for anything.”
“That, we are,” Twilight Sparkle said.
The three alicorn foals came back, with saddle bags. “Rainbow Dash,” Apple Bloom asked, “could you help us get the bags on right?”
“Sure!” Rainbow Dash replied, and they got to work getting the saddle bags on right.
Once everypony was off-Rainbow Dash flying off with the foals, Fluttershy flying off to the North Forest with some books on deer foal birth, Rarity lifting Pinkie Pie with her telekinesis and going off with Applejack to take her back home-Twilight Sparkle opened up the door to the library.
And ran immediately into a yellow rump and blue tail. “Ooof!” the rump said, and Twilight Sparkle realized lightning bolt and shield Cutie Mark, blue tail, pegasus wings…
“Hey there, cheeseball,” Twilight Sparkle smiled. “How did you get in?”
“Hey there yourself, sparklebutt,” Flash Sentry smiled in return and waggled one of his wings. “Spike let me in, I just got into town a few hours ago.”
“Okay, so why are you here?” Twilight Sparkle asked curiously.
“Yesterday, Shining Armor called me to his office. Before I walked fully in the door, he asked me ‘you got your crash bags packed’? I said yes, he said, ‘next train for Ponyville is in about an hour-don’t stop for anything, get your bags and get to the station. Oh, and here’s your promotion to Captain, congratulations, you’re in command of the Ponyville Guard detachment.’ And, he pretty much threw me out of his office to get more speed,” Flash Sentry said in wonder. “The barracks are full, even the hotel is full, but I know you have a spare bed and Spike let me in.”
“Yea, I do, but...do you know what you’re here for?” Twilight Sparkle asked. “Besides the promotion-congratulations, by the way.”
“Thank you. And, yea, I know. Liger Diablocus, cult of Nightmare Moon worshippers, and that I’m here because Princess Celestia doesn’t want a repeat incident,” Flash Sentry said. “Oh, and half-way here I got a note from Princess Cadence, ‘last orders before you take your new assignment,’ she said.”
“Oh? What did the ladybug said for you to do?” Twilight Sparkle asked curiously.
Flash Sentry blushed, and then kissed Twilight Sparkle on the cheek. “Well, that’s what she told me to do!” Flash Sentry gasped.
Twilight Sparkle blushed, and curled her head up shyly. “What did you want to do?”
“Well, this,” Flash Sentry replied, and kissed Twilight Sparkle on the lips.
“I do feel a need to do actual field experiments…,” Twilight Sparkle replied after a breathless moment, and kissed Flash Sentry back.
All four of them-Rainbow Dash and the three alicorn foals-managed to find a good thermal and it got them up to Rainbow Dash’s cloud home in good time. She landed and watched as the rest of the ponies landed as well. “Wow,” Rainbow Dash said, “I’m impressed. You three are damn good fliers, if I say so myself!”
“Hey, we had a good teacher,” Apple Bloom said, and looked around. “You live here? It’s huge!”
“Well,” Rainbow Dash blushed, “cloud is cheap to work with and Dad just keeps giving me more money than I can use, so I spend it on making the house bigger and everything else…”
A head stuck out off the porch overhang. “And, you invested in darn good locks, RD.”
All four of the ponies looked at the pale blue male pegasus that popped his head off the porch overhang. “Been waiting here for a while, was wondering if I could get crash space with you,” Soarin said, pulling a large set of saddle bags down with him, as well.
“Ah,” Rainbow Dash said, looking sheepish. “Um, do you know…”
“Sweet Celestia!” Soarin said, looking at the three alicorn foals. “You’re…”
“Alicorns, yes,” Sweetie Belle said, thinking that this was going to be their life for a long time...
“...some of the best young pegasus foal flyers I’ve ever seen,” Soarin finished, looking at them. “I mean, most foals would need to glide here, I assume you flew all the way.”
“That we did,” Apple Bloom said, a little shocked. “You’re Soarin, right? Fly with the Wonderbolts?”
“Yep,” Soarin smiled. “And, a Guard Reserve pony-they reactivated me and told me to report to Ponyville for the next few weeks. Sergeant Major Soarin, at your service.”
“Princess Celestia said they were expanding the Guard around Ponyville,” Scootaloo said. “You’re a reservist?”
“Had to pay for college somehow,” Soarin said sheepishly. “So, I’m here for the next few weeks while they get everything settled and ready to go.”
“Anyways,” Rainbow Dash said, interrupting, “we’re gonna expand my house a bit and that means more clouds. Did you see any good ones on your way in, Soarin?”
“A few,” Soarin agreed. “I’ll go round ‘em up and bring them over.”
About thirty minutes later, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had some ideas for how to set up the new clouds and Apple Bloom was making dinner for all of them. Soarin came in with a huge smile. “Hey, foals,” he said, “we got some perfect clouds for Scootaloo’s new room.”
“Awesome!” Scootaloo said, and came outside of Rainbow Dash’s house. And, there were a LOT of clouds…
“So, what are we going to add onto the house?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Bedroom and bathroom,” Scootaloo said. “Probably next to your room, save us trouble with the plumbing. I was thinking about a magic practice room, but cloud and high powered magical spells don’t mix very well.”
“Oh,” Rainbow Dash said. “So, let’s get started?”
“Sure! But, first we need to eat,” Apple Bloom replied. “Made a snack-ish dinner while you all were working. Oh, and a table.” Pegausi tended to eat a lot of little meals over the day, mostly because of how much energy they used to fly.
“You did what?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Figured something out,” Apple Bloom replied. “Did you know that when pegasui make clouds more permanent, they use their magic kind of like a unicorn preservation spell? Not exactly the same, but I think I might be able to make that whole ‘solid cloud’ formula work properly!”
“What ‘solid cloud formula’?” Soarin asked, right eyebrow and ear raised.
“There’s a potion that lets ponies that aren’t pegasui and thestrals walk on clouds. Well, alicorns as well, but yea. Anyways, Cloudsdale wants to host the Summer Sun Celebration, but when you can’t have two-thirds of the ponies come to it, it’s exclusionary, right?” Apple Bloom replied. “So, we’re trying to make more ‘solid’ clouds that allow ponies to walk on them like they were soil. The table’s an experiment-I’ve tweaked the spell nodes and did some other tricks…oh no, I’m startin’ to sound like Twilight Sparkle!”
Rainbow Dash did a long, comical look at Applebloom. “You don’t look like her, so you’re safe. Anyways, let’s eat!”
They all sat down at the table, and Soarin took a look at it. And thumped his hoof against it hard. Didn’t move, didn’t even twitch. Hit it harder, didn’t even bend. Which made him look at it even weirder. “You trying to break my table, Soarin?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously.
“It looks like normal cloudcrete, but this stuff is strong,” Soarin replied. “I mean, I can normally make a mark on the regular stuff. We might need power tools to do something with this kind. Did you do something alicorn-magic to it, Applebloom?”
“Nope,” Apple Bloom sighed. “It’s just a team magic effort-a skilled unicorn and pegasus could do it, easily. I can do it myself because I have both kinds of magic at hoof.”
“‘Alicorn magic’ isn’t that special,” Sweetie Belle said, bringing out a huge tray of food with her telekinesis. “Oh, it’s powerful, no doubt about that! We’re still fillies and we’re probably as powerful as Twilight Sparkle was when she came to town in raw magic. But, it’s the cooperative effort in one body that makes us so capable-we can do Earth, Pegasus, and Unicorn magic, separately and together. What takes three ponies, one alicorn can do.”
“But, we’re just one pony,” Scootaloo said. “I mean, you could just swarm us with enough ponies to do serious damage or harm us. Killing us, that’s difficult, mind you. And, we kind of show up anywhere we go. I mean, right now, how old you think we are?”
“Hm, five, six years old? You got the height and the legs, and that’s at the ‘almost done with being a filly’ stage,” Soarin noted.
“Try four years,” Apple Bloom replied. “We were all born in 998 ANM.”
“No way, you’re too tall to be four years old!” Soarin said in denial. “Maybe five or six-a tall five or six, but not four years old!”
“Celestia is over six thousand years old,” Sweetie Belle said. “Oh, she’s not growing anymore, but she’s nearly half again as tall as any other pony. Faust, even Cadence is taller than Big Macintosh and he’s the tallest pony we know of. And Cadence is barely out of her teens. My bet, she’ll be as tall as Luna when she finishes growing up.”
“When we were hiding out,” Apple Bloom said, “we had to use all our magic to fuel the body-change spells. Mostly to keep us from being like giant flares of power to anypony that can see magic.”
“One thing I’m curious about,” Rainbow Dash asked. “I’ve heard of thestrals. Even seen ‘em. But, you said you’re three ponies in one-does that mean you don’t have thestral in you?”
“Thestrals are pretty much a species of the Pegasus genus,” Scootaloo said. “You just have to spend an hour with a taxonomy chart and Twilight Sparkle to know that! All ponies are of the same family, we just split off at the genus level. Alicorns are their own genus and species, so are unicorns and Earth ponies. Pegasus on the other hand, split off at the genus levels into pegasus with feather wings and pegasus with leather wings. And, that’s because of the Era of Warring States.
“Nearly six centuries after the end of Faust’s reign, before the Sisters came,” Scootaloo shook her head. “Faust! Trust me, thestrals are good ponies. But, lot of the hate of them came during the Era of Warring States, because quite a few of the warlords used them as slave shock troops. Very often against their will.”
There was a moment of quiet at the table, and Sweetie Belle looked around. “I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry. Let’s eat!”
Two pegasus and three alicorns made quick work of the construction. Especially telekinesis-probably the best thing ever made for cloud shaping work. A few arguments later-mostly over coolness-they finished and stood back to admire their work.
Soon enough, they had gotten Scootaloo her own bathroom (with a very nice gravity-fed cloud shower), and her own bedroom. It was half the size of Rainbow Dash’s master bedroom, but with a large closet and lots of bookshelf space made of cloudcrete that could hold up bowling balls safely.
Scootaloo promised that she wasn’t going to start a bowling ball collection, but it never hurt to be prepared. Rainbow Dash was one of the victims of the Cutie Mark Crusader Cutie Mark Accelerator and being ready for unlikely incidents was always a good idea around Ponyville. Which was also why Rainbow Dash had several very powerful fire extinguishers and a fully stocked first-aid kit in the house, as well.
They looked around, and realized the sun was starting to go down. “Think you can make it home without problems?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Sure,” Apple Bloom said. “We’ll head right down to the Carousel Boutique and I can walk back to the farm, no problems. See you at the library tomorrow, before school?”
“Of course,” Scootaloo said.
“So, what are you doing for school?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“The problem is that we’re flanking brilliant, Rainbow Dash,” Sweetie Belle replied. “We’re working on college-level materials these days, mostly for fun. If we wanted to, we could have tested out of everything at school a year ago. So, we had an idea for how to handle things and still be in school and such. We’ll talk to Cheerlee about it tomorrow, before school starts.”
“Which is?” Soarin asked, curiously. He had been briefed on the Cutie Mark Crusaders, after all…
In perfect harmony, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle cheered, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER TEACHER’S ASSISTANTS, YAY!”
“Oh no,” Rainbow Dash face-hoofed. “And you don’t plan on getting back at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon?”
“Why would we?” Apple Bloom asked. When there are so many more interesting ways to torment them, she thought.
“Be highly wrong and unprofessional,” Scootaloo replied. And, why would we be like them? I mean, living well is the best revenge…, she thought.
“And, we want to set a good example!” Sweetie Belle finished. And, let them demonstrate that they’re the bad example, she finished to the mental cheering of her friends.
“Okay, you’d better get off now, it’ll probably be dark by the time you get home,” Rainbow Dash said, shaking her head. “See you both tomorrow.”
As Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle flew off, Rainbow Dash turned around, seeing Soarin and Scootaloo still standing there. “Hey, why are you still here?” she asked.
Soarin raised his front hoof. “Need a place to stay, was hoping to stay with you.” Soarin replied.
Scootaloo raised her front right hoof, as well. “I live here, remember?” Scootaloo replied.
Rainbow Dash face-hoofed and sighed. “Sometimes, I wonder seriously if I’d forget my own head if it wasn’t attached. Come on in, then.”
They all went in, and Rainbow Dash looked around. “Well, Soarin, grab your bags and get them settled in. I need to talk with Scootaloo for a minute,” she said sheepishly.
Soarin smiled, and wandered off down the hallway, looking at Scootaloo. “Um, you see, I’m in a, well, a relationship with Soarin, and…,” Rainbow Dash tried to say.
“Rainbow Dash...Mom, I know,” Scootaloo sighed. “And, I’m extremely happy for you. If I’m suprised with anything, you’re dating a stallion, not a mare. Mind you, I lost the pool-I thought you were a lesbian.”
Rainbow Dash broke out in a huge blush and gasped, “I’m not a lesbian, or one of those heterosexuals you hear about, I like both stallions and mares!”
“Damn it,” Scootaloo said with a smile. “That means Sweetie Belle wins the pool.”
“Um…,” Rainbow Dash blushed even harder and looked sheepishly at the floor. “You weren’t…”
“Nope, I’m pulling your hoof,” Scootaloo smiled. “I promise. And, also, call it a housewarming gift, Mom-I wove anti-scrying spells into your bedroom. They work when the door is closed, only thing somepony scrying in will see is rude commentary about lack of respect of a pony’s privacy.”
“Oh, wow, that’s cool…,” Rainbow Dash replied. Then…, “Do you like Soarin?”
“I think he’s pretty cool. Always talked to me when I was back down and pretending to be sort of wingless. You can easily do worse-and only with great difficulty do better,” Scootaloo smiled. “And, I’d better let you go, or else he’ll think you got lost in your own house.”
“Ooops! Leftover’s in the fridge, cloud is great soundproofing, and see you tomorrow before you head off to the library!” Rainbow Dash blurted, and dashed for her room.
Scootaloo smiled as she left.
It was good to have a home, finally.
After she dropped Sweetie Belle at the Carousel Boutique, Apple Bloom trotted home and made good time. One of the great things now was that there were no less that five spells she could use to make it seem-to her, at least-as bright as day under the trees that came up to Sweet Apple Acres. And, best of all, three of them were undetectable by anypony else. So, she trotted along, happily, until she noticed something.
She wasn’t sure what, exactly, she noticed at first. A shift of the wind, a sound of something that shouldn’t be there, a faint scent of something that was wrong. But, once she felt it, Apple Bloom slowed down a bit. Let her pace slow slightly. And, she looked around a bit, as if she was curious.
Then, Apple Bloom let her wings open up, allowing them to feather slightly, and a soft glow to begin from the tip of her horn. “Y’ either friend or foe, and y’re tresspassin’ on Apple lands. Show yourselves, or I assume foe,” she said, in a slightly raised voice.
There was a faint rustle in the trees, and a chuckle from one nearby tree. “You’re not unobservant, filly,” the accented voice said, and from the trees came about eight thestrals, three males and five females. All were in the black and purple armor of the Night Guard, and they formed a rough half-circle in front of Apple Bloom. One of the males-a huge one nearly as tall as Big Macintosh, with a bright golden sunburst for his Cutie Mark and a leather eyepatch over his left eye-strode up with his helmet off and bowed to Applebloom. “My apologies for the surprise, Apple Bloom. I am Sunrise Smiles, in charge of this small coven of thestrals.”
“A pleasure,” Apple Bloom replied. “And the rest of your friends?”
“The rest of my soldiers,” Sunrise Smiles corrected, “My second, Frolicsome Meadowlark…”
“A pleasure,” the other large male thestral replied with a smoother version of the same accent as Sunrise Smiles, nodding his helmeted head. His flank had a Cutie Mark of a whole field of wild flowers.
“...and that’s Moonshot over there,” Sunrise Smiles continued, as the third male thestral waved his wings over his Moon-and-spaceship Cutie Mark and smiled back at Apple Bloom. “The ladies, of course...right here is Star Struck…”
“An honor, Apple Bloom,” Star Struck said with a smile that showed off her beautiful yellow eyes and she flirted slightly with her flank to show off her three shooting stars Cutie Mark.
“Stop flirting, I don’t know if she likes mares,” Sunrise Smiles chuckled. “Of course, we have the lovely and always welcome Midnight Blossoms,” he nodded at the cute female thestral with the beautiful yellow eyes, white lilies for her Cutie Mark, and a cheerful expression on her face.
“Glad to meet you, Apple Bloom, wish it wasn’t on my night off…,” Midnight Blossom said with a distinct middle-class Trottingham accent.
“Why’s that?” Apple Bloom asked, curiously.
“Got a hot date,” she blushed slightly, and flicked her ears.
“A hot date with Cloud Skipper,” Moonshot grinned.
“Sitting in a cloud,” one of the unnamed female thestrals continued, her Cutie Mark of a blue crystalline eye surrounded by a veil and starts flashing in the rising Moon.
“K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” all the female thestrals sung, just a touch off-tune, to the embarrassment of Midnight Blossom.
“Oh, grow up,” she hissed at them. “Or at least learn how to harmonize. I’m sorry for my so-called friends, Applebloom. I have a boyfriend in the Day Guard, a pegasus named Cloud Skipper, and we rarely get enough time off together.”
“Oh,” Apple Bloom said, “Sorry to hear about that.”
“Don’t worry too much about her,” Sunrise Smiles said. Then, he smiled-a terrifying wonder to behold, “I managed to get her and him passes for a whole week’s leave when we’re done with this job.”
The crystalline-eye Cutie Mark thestral smiled and bowed to Apple Bloom. “My name is Night Watch, and I would warn you now-three steps forward, then two steps to the left. Or you will regret it.”
“Eh?” Apple Bloom asked with a raised ear and eyebrow.
“Night Watch can occasionally see bits of the future,” Sunrise Smiles sighed. “Or, at least she claims.”
“Hush now!” Night Watch hissed in exaggerated patience. “I kept you from marrying that harpy, didn’t I?”
“And, since they’re about to have an argument,” another female thestral, with an absolutely lovely blooming jasmine as a Cutie Mark and black hair that Rarity would have killed for, “I’m going to introduce myself. I’m Jasmine, and I’m in the same town as Rarity. Rarity! I have every single magazine that her fashion has ever been featured in and…”
“You’re obsessing again,” the last female thestral, with an odd cocoon-like Cutie Mark sighed. “Anyways, I’m Echo,” the thestral finished. “And, occasionally Jasmine will get a bit...enthusiastic about things. She’s a good soul, trust me.”
“Now that we’re all introduced,” Sunrise Smiles said. “May we join you for dinner tonight at Sweet Apple Acres?”
Apple Bloom looked out at the eight thestrals and said, “Y’know we probably don’t have any meat at the farm. I know your habits-not a complaint, just an observation.”
“We ate things that might be...objectionable to other ponies prior to coming here,” Frolicsome Meadowlark nodded. “We are omnivores, and the other parts of a standard pony diet we can enjoy with you.”
Apple Bloom considered. They had a large enough table when the rest of the Apple Clan came to town, but… “Have to ask when we get there, so I can’t promise anything. Fair enough?”
“Entirely,” Sunrise Smiles said. He gestured with his head and a wing. “After you?”
Apple Bloom started to trot towards Sweet Apple Acres, as Sunrise Smiles slip in beside her. The rest of the thestrals assumed guard positions around and behind her, and Applebloom wondered how they would react if she told them she knew where each and every one of them was well before she crossed the hill.
The walk to the house was relatively short, and she came over the last hill to see the barn and the house and everything else for Sweet Apple Acres.
She had seen Canterlot in all of it’s glory. Seen pictures of the Nehipon capital, a dozen other cities. But, Sweet Apple Acres in all of it’s worn glory could still take her breath away. And, she sighed as she thought about the notes in her saddle bag. It was not going to be easy to talk about this with Applejack…
A few minutes later, she was at the door, and she knocked. The door opened, with that little squeak from the bottom hinge that was still there, and Big Macintosh came to the door. Apple Bloom smiled softly, and realized…right front leg…
On his right front leg was a wedding band. Applejack’s father’s wedding band, fixed to fit his leg properly. Good for him, she thought. “Hey, Big Macintosh...they followed me home, can we keep ‘em?”
Big Macintosh looked over the thestrals, and looked at Apple Bloom. “Got enough table space and food. Any problem with apples and oatmeal?”
“None at all,” Sunrise Smiles said. “I’ve had some of the preserves from here, and fresh-from-the-tree is even better.”
Big Macintosh smiled at this. “Good to hear, leave your gear on the pegs,” and Big Macintosh stepped aside to let them all in.
As they all came in, Apple Bloom saw Granny Smith sitting in her rocking chair. This one was going to be the hardest...even harder than Apple Jack. She walked up to Granny Smith and took a long, deep breath, starting with, “Granny...I’m sorry…”
“Heard all about what you were threatened with,” Granny Smith interrupted. “And, you’ve been sometimes silly, sometimes a fool, sometimes a foal, but never evil or bad. Keep being a good pony, granddaughter.”
Apple Bloom’s heart skipped a beat. Then, tears formed in her eyes and with a lunge, she hugged Granny Smith. “Thank you,” she whispered into Granny Smith’s cheek, “thank you.”
“Ahem,” a voice said behind Apple Bloom. She turned, to see Apple Jack. With Mom’s wedding band on her front right leg. “Glad to see you’re back. So, who’s all the friends?”
“Sunrise Smiles, ma’am,” the large thestral said, nodding to Apple Jack. “Your daughter invited us home, and I was wondering if we could talk about moving into the large caverns near here. Our initial investigation suggests it would make for a great caern.”
“Caern?” Apple Jack asked, curiously.
“Back when things were bad,” Sunrise Smiles said, “we found places for our families and foals that were easily defendable and hard for other ponies to get at them. Mostly caverns, which we call caerns. And, we’re willing to pay rent on the space we use.”
“And,” Apple Bloom said, “I’ve been thinkin’, there’s some financial assistance programs for small farm ponies like us, I’ve got the paperwork and…”
“Oatmeal’s on!” Echo interrupted. “Let’s eat!”
The next morning, they all met early at the Ponyville Library. Twilight Sparkle was there, as well as Cheerlee, whom looked in shock as the three alicorn foals walked in. “Wow...I mean, I didn’t even know, didn’t even suspect,” Cheerlee said, in shock.
“We were hiding out,” Sweetie Belle said, “and if you’d figured it out, we’d have failed. I’m sorry we have to lie to you.”
“Considering what came after you...and, Princess Twilight Sparkle told me what you want to do. Do you think…,” she asked, letting her voice trail off.
“We’re not going to grade them or anything, but I know a couple of the unicorns in class need help with their magic,” Apple Bloom said. “I’m just wantin’ to give back to the school.”
“And,” Scootaloo said, flexing her wings, “I think we got some strong fliers in class. Want to help them out, too.”
“Okay, but I think this is going to be hard to explain…,” Cheerlee noted. “We’ll give it our best shot.”
“Class,” Cheerlee said, “I’ve got some news about Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle.”
A few of their friends were listening intently, but Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were chattering softly with each other in the back. Cheerlee sighed to herself. Those two had so much potential...but she couldn’t seem to get through to them. Maybe…
“They’ve come back to town today, and it turns out that they’ve been wanting to tell you all something,” she continued, and waved her hoof to let them in.
As they came in, the entire classroom went silent. All the foals were looking at the three, and they had decided that Sweetie Belle was going to speak for all of them. “Hi there, everypony. Yes...we’re alicorns. We always have been. And...we had to hide because our mother was hurt very badly by some very mean ponies.”
She looked around, and smiled. “Well, we can’t hide anymore. It would be wrong for our mother, and wrong for us. And, since we are going to be out...we want to help.”
As everypony else was listening, two ponies were not. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were looking at the three alicorn foals. Strong, capable, confident, with their Cutie Marks, and presumably friends of the Princesses. And...coming back to school, to help other students. They chose to be here.
“So, since we’re here, we’re volunteering. All of us are going to be teaching assistants. I’ll help out all the unicorns in class with their magic.”
The sound they heard was of their worlds collapsing. The dreams they had made of what they were...falling apart.
Silver Spoon would swear, later, that she had felt her jaw hit her hooves at that moment.
“Apple Bloom is going to help with general education, and potions. Oh, we’re all qualified, but she’s good at it.”
What were they if they didn’t have those three blank flanks to tease? Their jaws had dropped, in shock and amazement.
And absolute terror.
“And, Scootaloo is going to organize the school’s Skyball team. We might not be able to beat Cloudsdale or Pegalot, but we’re going to try our hardest to do so.”
The fall of their world kept growing more, and more, and more. Money didn’t matter at this point, or who their fathers were. Those three...had more potential power in their hooves than the two of them combined.
“There’s some stuff we can’t talk about, but what we can, we will. And, we really do want to help. So, we’ll see you all at morning recess, where we’ll start organizing the Skyball team and doing some basic magic help.”
So...clearly, at least in Diamond Tiara’s mind, the alicorn foals had to be destroyed.
Or else every other pony would pull the mask off her face and reveal just how hollow she was underneath.
“Thank you, everypony,” Sweetie Belle finished. “And, we’re glad to be back.”
And, the Battle for Ponyville School begun in that instant.
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Tread cautiously with the flashlight. I don't care as long as it is a small thing on the side that barely affects the story
Nice chapter. I'm glad all three of our Alicorn heroines have such loving families. I can't wait to see Diamond Tiara's plan blow up in her face. Hopefully Silver Spoon has enough common sense to abandon the sinking ship that is the DT and try to make herself a better pony.
4141600 I take it you're not a Twilight Sentry fan.
Darn. Have to pull out the epic hundred page clop scene I've been working on...
4142128 I'm saying that Sweetie Belle and Applebloom have had those families in the show however slightly dysfunctional they are. Scootaloo is going to discover those joys, soon...
4142277 if you actually did write that I would be a little impressed
4143520 It's epic. Fireworks, small geological movements (on the scale of continents), and all that sort of stuff is the end result.
4142277 Well, Applebloom nearly DIDN'T in this fic due to Applejack's hard head.
I had Apples to the Core running through my head as soon as Granny Smith confirmed Applebloom was still her granddaughter.
4144274 Remember, only Pinkie Pie juggles the Idiot Ball. Every pony just holds onto it occasionally.
4141600
I agree with that changeling over there keep the instances of "brad" in the story minmum and we wont have any issus and no i do not have a giant spiked club behind my back
4144418 You do realize that threatening me requires me to give you the Standard Warning (i.e. I believe in massive retaliation delivered massively), and makes me want to write more Twlight Sentry stuff...
Here's the great thing about Flash Sentry from my POV-he's a mother-bucking blank canvas...and, I get to do whatever I want with him.
Maybe, just maybe, even give him an actual personality.
And, if you're playing Brer Rabbit about it, who knows? I might not do anything about it...
Or, would I?
4144401 Like Twilight whenever she thinks a spell is the perfect solution to her problems only to make things worse???
4144655 Very much so, yes. I'm hoping to keep the idiot ball out of as many hooves as possible...
4145618 Good luck, some ponies have glue on their hooves and won't let it go. Crazy cultists for example. Now, let people like them keep the ball long enough for the heroes to make the best of it.
fucking diamond tiara. even in the face of three fucking alicorns, she still thinks she can win. talk about an egomaniac.
4155796 Well, she has won before, hasn't she? Just the scale of her victory is going to be so very different.
4156651 but now, instead of three 'fillies' she's taking on three alicorns who have done more in four years than she's done in her whole life, have more power in their hoofs than she has in her whole person, are smarter than she is by a landslide, and have far more connections to important and powerful people than she could ever hope to have. not to mention that the majority of pony society is kinda hardwired to see alicorns as above the common pony, so she can't just debase them like she used to. she'd have to initiate a full scale scandal to even begin to be a player in this game. and even that wouldn't really work, because the 'scandal' wouldn't even reach outside of ponyville, since else even knows that they're there (yet). so unless you (as the writer) decide to have her side with the bad ponies, i can't see her being anything more than a minor nuisance. of course, you are the writer, which basically makes you god in this situation. so anythings possible.
4157598 Diamond Tiara thinks the game hasn't changed. Just...players she has to work around.
I honestly think that Diamond Tiara is a little...not crazy, just so desperate that she'll do anything. And, we'll be seeing that, soon enough...
Aren't the Wonderbolts already part of the military? So why would one also be part of the reserve guard?
Eh, I was so-so on Equestria Girls, in the 'meh' category. Of course, I didn't actually finish watching the first season until Season 5 had started airing, so I wasn't so attached to be all 'waifu stealer hate' and so on
so I can tolerate it. Soarin', however, is pretty chill in my book.
Does Rainbow Dash really call her own dad 'Rainbowdad'? Unless that's his real name, it sounds a little bit egotistical to refer to your dad as specifically being 'Myname-dad'.
Diamond Tiara is going to have a really hard time of it, especially if her father catches wind (at least, Filthy Rich always seemed a pretty reasonable guy to me from his few brief appearances. A hang-up over what Granny Smith calls him is hardly a big character flaw)
The story is pretty good so far, I enjoy seeing how everything is going for our heroes and I'm enjoying the darker feel of the villains in the story. I can't wait to see what you have planned next as this story is a truly enjoyable read.
I always did enjoy the Rainbow Soarin pairing but I'm pretty much for anypony dating the mane six. Flash Sentry is an exception, not because he likes Twilight (like I said before I don't care who they're romantically interested in, you could even ship her with Gabe Nuel and I wouldn't care if there was a good enough explanation behind it) but because in my honest opinion he's a terrible character that's a shallow cardboard cutout only interested in having others like him( essentially only doing things because it boosts his image, essentially the pretty boy who's only defining trait is "look at how cool I am") at best and a completely hollow soulless being that is essentially using mares for his own selfish gain at worst, and that's only the vibes I get from his canon version I could easily see him being realistically worse, and I actually prefer him being worse because it actually makes his character interesting.
Oops, didn't mean to rant that much, especially on a story that I truly enjoy, but Flash was a character where they simply dropped the ball. Sorry.